Ryan White

AIDS WAS responsible for taking Ryan White's life. But AIDS was not responsible for taking Ryan White's childhood. The public's misconceptions and prejudices stole Ryan's childhood and turned him into a young man mature beyond his years.Ryan White died with dignity and respect he so deserved. His passing leaves behind a legacy for all to learn by. God bless you, Ryan.Carole Forguer ORLANDO

For 45 years pop star Elton John has left the writing to lyricists such as Bernie Taupin, Gary Osborne and Tim Rice . A cursory examination of the few songs with his own lyrics, such as 1978's "Flintstone Boy," strongly suggests he made the right decision. Similarly, John, 65, might have been better served had he employed a ghostwriter to draft his good-intentioned memoir. "Love Is the Cure" isn't a tell-all or about his music career. He mentions 1974's " Caribou " only because during sessions for the album he first tried cocaine, a drug that would almost kill him during a 16-year habit.

One of America's great teachers died Sunday. He was 18 years old.Ryan White, who belonged to the high school booster club and liked to read automotive magazines, helped Americans understand AIDS.Complications from the disease claimed his life, but not before he made repeated public appeals for Americans to recognize AIDS as ''a disease, not a dirty word.''Knowing he had limited time, he testified at congressional hearings, gave speeches, gave interviews, lobbied politicians, befriended people of money and influence - all in the interest of furthering AIDS education.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- His emaciated body advertises the damage caused by the AIDS virus. But during the past year, Rolando Warren Gonzalez, 41, a former steel-band member, has faced an extra challenge to his survival. From the shelter where he lives in Loiza in Puerto Rico's impoverished northeast, Gonzalez travels 1 1/2 hours by bus to reach the government clinic where he receives his "cocktail" of antiviral drugs. "But sometimes I go, and they just don't have the medicines," he said.

On Wednesday, the County Health Department will welcome nationally known speaker and HIV-AIDS education advocate Jeanne White in honor of National Black HIV Awareness Day. White, mother of Ryan White, will discuss her experiences at Lake-Sumter Community College's Health Sciences Center auditorium from 6 to 8 p.m. A hemophiliac, Ryan White died at age 18 in 1990 of AIDS-related complications. By the time of his death, he had become an articulate spokesman about the disease.

Jeanne White, 44, did more than the usual celebrating at her wedding. After tying the knot with Roy Ginder, 37, White launched a foundation to fight AIDS, the disease that killed her son Ryan.After the wedding Saturday in Cicero, Ind., the newlyweds announced the start of the Ryan White Foundation, which will raise money to fight the disease. Ryan White died at age 18 in 1990 of complications from AIDS, which he contracted from a tainted blood-clotting agent to treat his hemophilia.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Ryan White Foundation, established to promote AIDS education after the death of its 18-year-old namesake in 1990, is nearly broke and has laid off its staff. The foundation has nearly deserted its offices, leaving behind a message on its toll-free phone line saying it is closed for lack of funding. Jeanne White-Ginder, White's mother and the group's founder, said donations topped $250,000 four years ago but have dwindled.

The mother of teen-aged AIDS victim Ryan White scolded senators Wednesday for failing to live up to their promises. Jeanne White, whose son became a symbol of courage before he died in Indiana on April 8 at age 18, said Ryan wouldn't have wanted his name attached to the health care bill that President Bush signed into law last month if there wasn't going to be money to back it up. The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act authorized $875...

Ryan White, the Indiana teen-ager who put the face of a child on AIDS and served as a leader for gaining greater understanding and compassion for those with the deadly disease, died Sunday. He was 18.Ryan, a hemophiliac who contracted the virus through a blood transfusion, died of complications of AIDS in Riley Hospital for Children, said Dr. Martin Kleiman, the youth's physician.He would not elaborate. Ryan entered the hospital on March 29 suffering from a respiratory infection.His mother, his grandparents and singer Elton John were with him when he died, Kleiman said.

The death of Ryan White produced an outpouring of sympathy. President Bush, Elton John and Michael Jackson were among the high-profile grievers. Now, a conservative monthly argues that reaction to his AIDS-related passing shows blindness to ''the practices which indirectly caused it.''The June Religion & Society Report, a publication of the Rockford Institute, says White was duly lauded ''as the one who proved to the nation that we must have compassion for...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding up renewal of the 1990 Ryan White Act, the primary federal law that battles HIV/AIDS, causing a rift among activists on the subject and threatening approval of the legislation this year. Clinton, D-N.Y., said she opposes the measure because it would lower funding for her home state. But some AIDS groups also see broader political motives at work. Other states that would lose out include California, Florida and Illinois -- all places Clinton would need to win if she seeks the presidency.

You remember Ryan White, don't you? He was the Indiana middle-school student who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion in the early 1980s, an accident that was part of his treatment for hemophilia. Today marks the 14th anniversary of Ryan's death. He was 18. When his mother, Jeanne, informed the school district officials about his illness, they were puzzled about what to do next. After all, this was 1984. Two years before, the disease didn't even have a name. After asking the state's department of health repeatedly for help, the small-town school board opted to sequester Ryan in a classroom by himself to prevent the spread of this fairly mysterious disease.

LEESBURG -- Jeanne White-Ginder has told the story of her son's life and death countless times. She told it again in Lake County this week. When Ryan White was diagnosed with AIDS one week before Christmas in 1984, he became one of the first hemophiliacs and children to contract the disease. The boy who was determined to lead a normal life ended up living an extraordinary one, as the story of the discrimination he faced in his hometown of Kokomo, Ind., became a media obsession and a celebrity cause.

On Wednesday, the County Health Department will welcome nationally known speaker and HIV-AIDS education advocate Jeanne White in honor of National Black HIV Awareness Day. White, mother of Ryan White, will discuss her experiences at Lake-Sumter Community College's Health Sciences Center auditorium from 6 to 8 p.m. A hemophiliac, Ryan White died at age 18 in 1990 of AIDS-related complications. By the time of his death, he had become an articulate spokesman about the disease.

LEESBURG - Ryan White would like to be a published author like his hero, science fiction writer Timothy Zahn.But it's hard for a 16-year-old would-be author with a vivid imagination to reach an audience of potential readers.That's where the Lake County Library System is lending a hand.White's first effort, The Haunting Behind Langhiem Manor, has been published on the library's Internet Web site (www.lakeline.lib.fl.us). It appears along with original unpublished short stories and poems by a dozen or so other Lake County writers.

A bookkeeper who police say stole more than $200,000 from an AIDS program and spent the money on Disney World weekends has been accused of embezzlement by a second health program.As yet, no additional charges have been filed. The Local Health Council of East Central Florida filed a complaint to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, naming Corey E.C. White, 34, of Orlando as a suspect in the theft of an undisclosed amount of council money.Based on the complaint, the Orange County Sheriff's Office started an investigation earlier this week.

FORT LAUDERDALE - The family of Ryan White, the Indiana teenager whose death of AIDS led to a national campaign to fight the disease, has told a charity to stop using the boy's name.The Ryan White Foundation for Medical Treatment was given 90 days to do so, in the wake of reports a pharmacy affiliated with the foundation's clinic overbilled Medicaid for drugs used to treat HIV patients.

More news from the Jackson front: Michael Jackson paid $1,000 to buy a step inside a restored war monument to honor Ryan White, the Indiana teen-ager who died of AIDS.Jackson befriended White during the boy's battle with acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which he contracted through a blood transfusion. White died last year at 18.On step 38 of the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, in Gary, a bronze plaque will be inscribed: ''In honor of Ryan White. His spirit lives in us all. We miss you. Michael Jackson.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Armed with the first convictions in the $2.2 million San Juan AIDS Institute fraud case, AIDS activists from Puerto Rico and Washington are making rounds in the nation's capital this week demanding more accountability.In Puerto Rico, politicians are caught in a firestorm of accusations about campaign finance law violations. These were spurred by a legislator's admission on the witness stand that he received more than $100,000 cash for his 1988 campaign from a person indicted in the case.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Ryan White Foundation, established to promote AIDS education after the death of its 18-year-old namesake in 1990, is nearly broke and has laid off its staff. The foundation has nearly deserted its offices, leaving behind a message on its toll-free phone line saying it is closed for lack of funding. Jeanne White-Ginder, White's mother and the group's founder, said donations topped $250,000 four years ago but have dwindled.